Dizzy
by shadowtheo
Summary: AU. Howard and Vince met under different circumstances, and Bainbridge is in the thick of it. But why exactly is he keeping Vince upstairs with a strange portal and a pony? A dark and dangerous adventure will shroud them, lets hope they get out safe!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.

Summery: An AU of the Boosh world. Howard and Vince met under different circumstances, and Bainbridge is in the thick of it. But why exactly is he keeping Vince upstairs with a strange portal and a pony? Dark fic.

Dizzy: 1 Up The Stairs.

Howard had never been to Bainbridge's house before. But it was huge. Howard had been working at the zoo for a couple of years, and had naturally heard of the man's successful missions earning him fame. Somehow he'd never imagined himself seeing the fortune he had been blatantly cheated out of paraded in front of him.

However, when your slightly deranged boss orders you to go to your archenemy's house for tea, you couldn't refuse. Not if this was the only way he was going to keep his job. Besides, he was Howard Moon, man of action; he wasn't about to run away.

Recently life had gotten exceedingly dull and repetitive, even Miss Gideon wasn't peeking his interest like she normally did. Maybe he was going to get a promotion? But Howard could hardly even get excited about that. He hadn't felt truly alive in a long time; he sincerely doubted that was going to change in his rival's house.

Howard stepped through the imposing doors to find a decorated and well-lit entrance hall. Very grandeur and fine. Howard grimaced, sometimes he was glad for his small hut at the zoo.

"Ah, Moon." Came the pompous voice across the hall.

"Bainbridge." Howard replied curtly once he turned to face the oncoming figure.

"Now I know you'll understand that I don't want to sit and have tea with the likes of you, however, I find myself in need of your assistance."

"Oh really." Howard smirked as he said it, loving the position the great explorer was now in. He intended to milk it for all it was worth, but Bainbridge evidently had other ideas.

"Yes, I require you to house-sit whilst I am away on my many duties. As much as I am loath to let you into my house, you are the most expendable person at the zoo." Howard was insulted enough by the last statement not to wonder exactly why it was important that he was 'expendable'.

"Now I will be leaving tonight and will return in three days. You are not to leave the house, you are not to go to the upstairs floor, everything you need is downstairs and I don't want you to lose track of time. Oh, and don't be afraid of any... noises you may here, it's a large house after all, and _accidents_ tend to happen. Are we clear Moon?"

"Yes, very." Howard found the instructions a tad strange, but he had little time to dwell on this before Bainbridge gave him a list of what not to touch whilst he was there. Since the entire house seemed off limits, Howard decided he'd generally ignore the rules, and the slight prickling of apprehension that was creeping upon him.

"Well, I'm off. Hope your still here when I get back..." Bainbridge trailed off suspiciously as he went, and Howard was left standing in the middle of the hall, with nothing but silence for company.

Two hours later found Howard in front of the plasma screen with a beer contently in hand. To say he was enjoying himself was a good assumption. He got to scam on his rival whilst watching a jazz program full blast.

'Here comes the slap base.' He thought with great anticipation. 'Oh yeah.' He tapped his hand appreciatively in time with the music.

Howard jerked at a thunderous crashing from above him. Turning off the TV he listened, but heard no more. After a few seconds of careful listening he decided he must be hearing things, and turned the TV back to jazz.

A scream jerked Howard Moon from the sofa. The high-pitched yell stopped as suddenly as it had begun, followed by another crashing noise.

Heart racing Howard stood stock still, listening. There were constant rumblings and squeaks of floorboards from above him.

He should just stay here right? Or maybe call the cops? That was the sensible thing surely. However as the rumbling carried on above him, an idea struck the man of action.

If Bainbridge was running some sort of illegal fighting ring upstairs, which was what it sounded like, this was the perfect opportunity to get some dirt on the jumped up explorer.

With that in mind Howard fished his photographer's camera out of his bag and crept into the hall to stand in front of the huge carpeted staircase that led to the gloom of upstairs.

Creeping down the dark corridor upstairs, it felt as though the walls were closing in on him. Soon Howard became aware that the sounds, which involved a lot of clanging, banging and general rumbling, occasionally accompanied by grunts and the short high pitched screaming.

Howard managed to overcome his nerves as he reached a rickety looking ladder, completely out of place with the finery around him. Gulping, he began his assent.

As he pushed through the trap door above him he saw yet another long dark corridor, this one with no windows. It looked like this part of the house was once finely decorated, but that it had fallen into disrepair.

It didn't help that there were numerous vases shattered on the floor, fallen pieces of artwork and general rubble.

"Ahhhh!"

Howard saw a sudden flash of silver dart across the end of the corridor as the high-pitched scream traveled with it. Shortly after the silver streak came a large pink horse wearing white heeled boots, followed by a giant white rabbit that was grunting in a very unnerving fashion.

As the noise and unusual party carried on out of Howard's sight he stood staring for a good few seconds, mouth agape. 'What on earth?' The jazz maverick questioned internally. Managing to snap out of his trance Howard shook his head and begun to run after the odd group.

"Wait!" He called as he ran into an adventure that would change his life forever.

Howard turned at the end of the corridor and down another into the only room in sight. As he ran through the open doorway he saw racks upon racks of clothes hats and accessories, but most were lying on the floor and scattered in heaps. Mirrors coated every surface of the room apart from two doors on either side of the room. Neon lights shone from random locations, such as the floor of stuck to mirrors.

Suddenly a clothes rack collapsed by Howard, the silver figure sprawling over the glittering clothes. Howard took in that the women was wearing a strange silver all in one, until she rolled over, and Howard swiftly discovered the she was a he.

"What the?" He begun bemused as the raven-haired figure looked up at him in shock from the floor. The strikingly blue eyes stuck on his for a second before switching back to the door that opened on the other side of the room, the large white rabbit bounding out of it squeaking almost in triumph.

"Oh shit!" The strange man exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and attempting to run, only to fall over as his heeled boot caught in a scarf. He fell painfully and scrambled away on his knees to the other door as the rabbit bounced closer.

Howard begun to run forwards to help in some way before the pink heeled pony galloped in from the other room and reared over the rabbit, distracting it. The silver man opened the heavy wood door, revealing a black blue abyss with neon green smoke swirling out of it.

"Now Plan Pony!" The man yelled urgently at the freakish pink beast.

The 'Plan Pony' kicked the giant rabbit backwards towards the abyss room. At the same time however it hit a decrepit looking set of hangers, sending them flying into the shiny figure.

The rack hit him in the back and he toppled over it, the rabbit tumbled backwards over the edge, grabbing the white boot of the fallen man in order to save himself.

"Ah!" The man exclaimed as he was dragged towards the abyss, the pony ran forwards once more and stomped down on the rabbit's furry hand and the mans booted ankle.

The rabbit let go with a squeaky scream, the pony pranced away from the now flashing room beyond the door and the silver person lifted both legs and kicked the door closed, the slam it created was satisfying.

Abruptly the pony vanished in several glittering flashes of pink.

Howard stood gaping once more at all that had transpired before him, the black haired, pale man lay on the floor panting slightly before turning to look at him.

"Alright." He said with a slight laugh to his voice. "Who're you?"

Howard swiftly overcame his initial shock.

"Howard Moon. And you?"

"Vince Noir, rock and roll star!"

"Uh right. Look, why are you here? Bainbridge doesn't have a son does he?"

"I live here, have done for a couple of years, I'm his nephew." It seemed that the man constantly had a carefree grin and laugh in his voice.

"Then why are you up here?" Something wasn't quite sitting right with Howard about this whole affair and the strange circumstances that he had found this Vince in.

"I have the whole floor to myself! And I can decorate these rooms however I like, I'm thinking of doing the bathroom purple." He said happily, even a little excited about the prospect of re-painting a room.

"But why aren't you allowed downstairs?" He questioned the shiny creature.

"How'd you figure that?" He asked, still lying on the floor and playing with a feather boa.

"Well I wasn't allowed upstairs, so it stands to reason that you aren't allowed downstairs." Howard explained to the man he was thinking was slightly simple, given his perpetual grin.

"Bainbridge doesn't like me going downstairs, besides, I've got all this." Vince replied, waving around to indicate the mirrors and mess. Howard found his earlier assumption was wrong, Vince's dizzy grin slipped and he fingered the feather boa, holding it closer to him, as if the proximity of fascinatingly outstanding clothes could comfort him.

Howard did not say any of the harsh or philosophical things he usually said in these situations that made him seem big and clever, and attracted equally philosophical women to him. Because Vince, in the few minutes he had known him, managed to bring out honest feelings in Howard. Howard himself hadn't felt this included in a long time, which was strange really.

"Hey there little man, lets go down there and get a drink, I could go for a beer."

"I'd prefer sprite." Vince replied in a slightly less morose manner, although he still clutched the feathery scarf.

"Well there's some of that in the fridge." Howard tempted, as one would to an upset child.

"Alright then." Vince replied, looking up with the dizzy grin once more.

Howard smiled in return, the first genuine smile in a long time.

Vince begun getting up before wincing and falling back to the ground, legs bent awkwardly.

"You okay there?" Howard questioned, moving closer and frowning as Vince breathed shallowly.

"My ankle really hurts." He breathed out, surprised.

"Is it broken?" Howard asked urgently as he bent to examine the limb that the horse had trodden on. Gently he pulled off the white boot to see that Vince's ankle was bleeding and sitting at an odd angle. Swiftly he turned it over, seeing the bone protruding from the flesh. Vince yelped as Howard touched the evidently broken ankle, and then looked down to see the state it was in.

"Oh God!" He exclaimed, squirming backwards as if to separate himself from the limb.

"Vince, Vince!" He stopped squirming. "Calm down, we'll get you to a hospital alright?" Vince nodded shakily; starring at the blood wide eyed the whole time. Howard didn't like how fast the young man was breathing, it must be painful, but Vince looked more panicked then anything else.

Howard helped the shiny man to his feet and supported him as he hoped out of the room. The jazz maverick found it strange that he felt at ease with this strange creature, he was nothing that Howard had ever seen before and he had only just met him, yet he actually found that he was worried for him.

One thing Howard knew for sure was that something very wrong was going on here, and Bainbridge was the source. He wasn't going to let his anyone, let alone this sweet, carefree kid, live alone, secluded to solitude in the house of a terrible man, who knows what was going on? But Howard Moon, man of action, would be sure to get to the bottom of this mystery.

::Hope you liked! Please let me know.

::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination

Dizzy: 2 Down The Stairs.

At the ladder Vince had been excited, if in pain. He had never seen the downstairs of the house, when he was brought here he woke up in that room. Bainbridge had quickly explained the rules, and he had accepted without question with all those shiny clothes hovering around him.

Getting down the ladder however, was not a thrilling prospect. He looked sideways at that strange man that was his new friend Howard, Vince had always decided people were friends quickly, probably before they even thought of it themselves.

Other then having appalling fashion sense, he was quite nice, and he was giving Vince attention he hadn't received from anyone other then the Plan Pony. And the Plan Pony stepped on him a lot.

"Do you think you can, hope down?" Howard asked in a voice that showed he already knew the answer.

"I don't think so." Vince answered in a semi sarcastic, final sort of way.

"Yeah." Howard replied, looking from the ladder to the steadily bleeding ankle that Vince had lifted off the ground.

"Well, don't worry little man, Howard Moon, man of action is here! I'll carry you down!" Howard nodded in a satisfied sort of way.

"Are you sure Howard, I mean, you don't look that strong..." Vince trailed off with a grin at Howard's angered look.

"I'll have you know I do jazzercise once every three days! Now stop winging and grab on." Vince shrugged and wrapped his arms around Howard's neck from behind.

"If I fall and ruin this suit!" Vince warned.

Howard rolled his eyes and lowered himself down the ladder. Vince was surprised to find Howard stronger then he looked, and neither fell off the ladder. Vince hopped off Howard and leant against the wall as the other man got off.

The two made their way slowly along the corridor. Howard grabbed Vince tighter as he stumbled in his heeled boot, noticing the quick breathing and pained expression the fashion junkie wore he quickly looked behind them down the long corridor. Sure enough there was a stark trail of blood like a breadcrumb trail

"Just a bit longer Vince, hang on."

"It hurts Howard." Vince winced out, Howard took in his paling complexion, which had already seemed too pale to begin with, and his heart beat a bit faster.

"Just hang in there." He urged the slumping figure, as they started moving again he noticed how Vince was practically letting the limb trail along the floor.

"Manage down the stairs, then I can carry you and call the taxi." For Howard Moon did not believe in ambulances, and was a fan of the good honest taxi driver, having been one once. They reached the top of the staircase and Vince stopped.

"Call the taxi now." He breathed out, leaning heavily against Howard as he looked down the long flight of stairs. Howard obeyed, seeing the wisdom in the idea. Once the job was done he returned his attention to Vince.

"Come on then." He said, holding onto Vince's arm tightly.

"Howard wait!" Vince began. "I'm not sure this is a good idea! I mean, I never really listened to Bainbridge, but he always said to never go downstairs."

"Vince, we're getting you out of here, Bainbridge doesn't matter!" Howard said exasperatedly. He could see this was a large psychological barrier for Vince, whether from fear or Stockholm's syndrome, but right now they didn't have the time.

At Vince's shaky nod Howard begun the slow process of aiding Vince down the stairs. Vince leant heavily against Howard the whole time, not having the strength to hold himself up very well.

Howard was concerned at just how weak Vince was, he hadn't lost too much blood, and the exercise shouldn't have been that taxing. But then Howard considered the fact that Vince was very thin, had been kept in a corridor basically without being let outside, and without any natural light for who knew how long.

By the time they were down the stairs and out the door into the frosty night Vince was shaking badly, and huddled into Howard for warmth. The silver jumpsuit he was wearing hardly looked substantial.

Luckily the taxi pulled up just as they had left the few steps leading into the mansion. The taxi driver's eyes lingered on Vince as the pair slowly reached the cab, but like a true cab driver he made it seem like the most mundane situation possible.

"Where to?" Vince almost snorted at the question.

"The hospital, quick as you can sir." Howard replied genially, helping Vince into the cab.

Vince slumped tiredly until Howard begun to poke him into movement. Soon Vince had been coerced into lying on his back with his feet in the air, held up by Howard so they didn't hit the window.

Trembling as he looked out at the night sky, Vince stared into the cool glow of the full moon. He had almost forgotten what it looked like, all big and shiny, he found himself relaxing slightly at the sight of it, drifting off into a daze-like sleep.

Howard saw Vince gazing at the moon before his eyes shut. They were similar in a way, both Vince and the moon stood out from everything around them, seeming to emit a certain glow. Howard carefully watched over the amazingly haired person, taking note of his eyelids flickering between reality and sleep as they zoomed towards the hospital.

Upon their arrival Howard managed to find the correct fair in pennies, earning him a deathly glare from the cab driver. Howard put the glare behind him in favor of carrying the practically comatose Vince from the cab to the hospital.

Luckily a man running into a hospital with a bloody and pale silver androgynous form in his arms had the effect of getting them a stretcher in seconds and said silver figure wheeled off to surgery.

Howard plonked himself down in the plain plastic chair and waited for news on his new friend. 'Friend'? Did he really just think that? The nearest thing he had to a friend was Jack Cooper the fox, and even he didn't seem to want to be near Howard. There was just something about the sparkly man that drew Howard to him, he couldn't quite explain it, but he knew that this was the most alive he had felt in years. And he wasn't going to let the source of that go easily.

An hour or two passed the fretting Howard by before a large mustached doctor came towards him, Howard leapt to attention.

"Are you the friend of the young man just brought in?" He spoke with a rich voice.

"Vince Noir, that's his name. And yes sir, I'm Howard Moon."

"Right, good. Well there are a few problems here Mr. Moon."

"There are?" Howard asked worriedly, they hadn't needed to amputate surely?"

"Vince's ankle was badly broken and bruised, but it should heal with time. He has suffered severe blood loss however, which we are dealing with. The most worrying situation however is that Vince is very underweight, and is suffering from malnutrition. We were wondering what you knew of this?" By the stern look of the doctor, Howard knew he was suspected of foul play, but it was as much of a shock for him to actually hear from a professional that the bouncy and happy Vince was in such bad shape.

"To be honest doctor, I only met Vince this evening, I saw him get trodden on by a horse and brought him in." It was the truth really, he was just excluding some points.

"Well where did you find him?" The doctor was being patient, but Howard was getting agitated, he wanted to see the sparkly Vince and see for himself that he was okay. The poor kid was probably frightened, having not been into a hospital for who knew how long, and not even having anyone familiar around.

"He was, in the high street, by Top shop." Howard lied, trying to spy the room where Vince might be, he had a bad sense of unease within him, and something was telling him that this wasn't over yet.

"Alright then." The doctor said warily, evidently not buying the lie.

"Look can I just see him? He hasn't been in a hospital for a long time, if ever." Howard asked urgently.

"How do you know that?" Suspicion was written all over his face.

"He told me in the cab. Look, please, he's probably scared." Howard pleaded, for once looking into the man's eyes. The doctor looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted.

"Dr. Brown, we have a situation with the patient 127." She said urgently, nerves belaying the calm demeanor she was trying to put up.

"That's your friend." The doctor said to Howard, a strange look on his face.

"Take me there, maybe I can calm him down!" Howard requested, Dr Brown nodded shortly and they ran off down the hospital wing.

As they flung open the door Howard saw the mess of Vince's room. The IV stand had fallen over, blood from the life-giving bag was spilled over the floor, and the small bedside table had been knocked over, causing the jug of water on it to fall over the floor. Two nurses were standing back looking hesitant, one was holding a needle in the hand. Vince sat in the corner of the bed by the wall, he was holding the pillow and blanket to him, curled up and looking petrified.

The doctor moved slowly over to him, hands held up in a placating manner.

"Get away from me!" Vince yelled in his high-pitched way, curling further into the corner.

Howard pushed past the doctor in an action-like manner.

"Vince, Vince it's me, Howard! Calm down Vince, you're in the hospital." Howard said, catching Vince's eyes with his own. The familiar sight of Howard seemed to calm Vince slightly, but he still trembled as he spoke, clutching the blanket tighter.

"I woke up and she was trying to put that thing in my arm! There were all these weird tubes everywhere, I didn't know what was going on Howard!" Vince sounded partly accusative towards the nurses, and partly like he was defending himself.

"I'm scared, where are my clothes?" Vince sounded so upset and frightened that Howard felt his heartstrings being tugged. This wasn't helped when Vince let out a small sob-like noise and buried his head in the blanket, hair looking strangely disheveled.

"Oh Vince." Howard muttered as the usually sparkly person cried softly. He moved to sit on the bed and wrapped an arm around Vince, effectively forming a barrier between him and the nurses, who took the opportunity to clear up the mess. The shaking body leaned into his embrace, Vince was exceedingly trusting for someone in his position. Howard loved the feeling of being needed, clung to it even, he hadn't been needed in a long time.

"Can you get the clothes he came in with?" Howard questioned a nurse, who nodded and left. Howard didn't quite see why Vince needed material items so badly, but he saw that they were important to him, for whatever reason.

"Vince, the tubes and needles will make you feel better, you're malnourished, and you need the IV to get better, alright?" Vince looked confused but nodded anyway, sniffling and letting the cautious nurse take his arm, correcting the IV lines.

After the process was done the nurses' scampered from the room, leaving Howard and Vince with the doctor.

"Try to get some rest now Mr. Noir. We will have to talk about the circumstances that brought you here, and your diet when you wake up." With that the doctor left.

Howard pulled a very slightly padded chair to the bed and sat down tiredly.

"Howard, are we gonna tell them about Bainbridge?" Vince sounded worried about the prospect.

"I don't know, but you don't want to go back there do you?" Vince looked unsure as he shook his head, he bit his lip slightly.

"The clothes were nice..." He attempted lamely.

"Vince you can get clothes anywhere, he looked you up in his house, you're in a bad way because of him, and did he even feed you?" Howard asked angrily.

Vince shrank back at Howard's tirade, fiddling with the blanket nervously.

"He put food by the trap door sometimes, and there was a vending machine in my room." He defended.

"A vending machine full of what?" Howard asked, appalled by what he was hearing.

"Saturn zingers, flying saucers, strawberry laces, aero bars, haribo. It had a great selection." Vince said, dizzy grin back on his face.

"That's not real food! No wonder you're so thin, you're a bag of bones Vince!"

"But I like sweets!" He protested weakly, seeing the truth in Howard's statement.

"He gave you all the things you liked to keep you happy, but he didn't give you anything you need. Its like he wanted you to die up there, quietly, out of the way." Howard carried on until he saw the fresh tears of realization in Vince's eyes.

Vince had never thought Bainbridge was that bad, he had given him clothes and sweets, even a pony. But maybe Bainbridge really had hated him, just like all the others.

"Hey, Vince, its alright, you're out of there now, but you have to tell the doctors what he kept you like if you want to see him put away." Howard squeezed Vince's shoulder, managing to get out a sad sort of smile.

"Thanks Howard, you're a good friend." Vince said quietly before closing his eyes and falling into a dazed sleep.

Howard smiled softly and closed his own eyes, preparing himself for an uncomftorble sleep.

Neither of them therefore saw the shadow move away from the door, and the subtle clicking of a cell phone.

"Yeah Bainbridge, the shrimp eyed man found him, yeah, their in the hospital, I am, yeah, see you soon then." The one sided conversation ended, and an eerie chuckling echoed down the halls.

::Yay! Thanks for all the brilliant reviews, they really made my day and made me write fast, you're all wonderful! Hope you enjoyed!

::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.

Dizzy: 3 Out The Window.

Howard was jolted from a painful sleep by a horribly familiar voice outside the room.

"You take crab eyes, leave Vince to me."

'Bainbridge', Howard thought, shocked that he knew that they were here. 'This must be an inside job!' He realized, experiencing a sinking feeling that they had walked into a trap.

"Vince, Vince!" Howard hissed, shaking the sleeping man desperately.

"Howard, what?" Vince mumbled blearily, knocking the hands from his shoulders in annoyance.

"We have to get out of here!" Howard urged desperately, pulling Vince upright and throwing the covers off him.

"Do you mind!?" Vince squawked, pulling down the ridiculously short white hospital gown.

"We don't have the time for this!" He hissed, grabbing Vince's arm and ripping out the IV lines. Vince yelped in pain and shifted away from Howard, shocked at his panic.

"Step away from my nephew Moon!" Bainbridge's rich voice ordered as he stepped into the room with a large bag and a rifle.

"You!" Howard growled, finding it repulsive that the man still had the gall to call Vince his nephew.

Vince was staring petrified at Bainbridge, his blue eyes wide and fearful.

"I don't blame you Vincey." The man announced in the same pompous manner, whilst the doctor that had treated Vince grabbed Howard's arms behind his back.

"Vince don't listen to him!" Howard yelled at the simple creature, praying for him to understand.

"It's alright Vincey, here, have some sweets." Bainbridge handed Vince a bag of flying saucers and patted his shoulder in a supposedly reassuring manner. "And why have you been given such terrible clothes? Here, I brought you some from Top shop!" He announced merrily.

Vince's eyes went wide as he pulled out a dark gray shiny zip up, three quarter length sleeved top, he quickly pulled it on and did it up, hugging the material as if it was all he had. It was at that stage that Howard became worried about his sparkly friend's sanity, what had happened that made him need material comforts like no one else? As Vince took a deep breath and relaxed slightly in the fabric, a soft smile playing about his lips, Howard thought he looked...special, in both the unstable way, and the amazing way. He didn't know quite what to make of it, but somehow Bainbridge seemed to, and it annoyed Howard to no end.

Bainbridge smiled something that almost looked genuine as Vince leaned into his touch through the fabric on his shoulder and begun to look through the rest of the bag.

Once Vince had pulled on some impossibly skinny black jeans and silver heeled boots he tucked his legs to his chest and dug into the saucers. Howard blinked; surprised that anyone could eat a whole packet of sweets that quickly.

"Good boy. Now lets go back home shall we?" Bainbridge said as Vince nodded dimly, playing with the fabric of his shirt.

"Vince! Don't go with him!" Vince's head jerked up at the sound of Howard's voice, having seemingly temporarily forgotten him. Recollection flooded his eyes.

"Oh yeah!" Vince said, grinning that dizzy grin, he jumped out of the bed and stood between Howard and Bainbridge. He looked slightly shaky, but otherwise fine as he held the IV stand, lifting his injured foot off the ground.

"Sorry, I kind of promised Howard I'd run away with him, and you know how I like keeping my promises." Vince beamed at his explanation, until he saw the dangerous glint in Bainbridge's eyes.

"Oh you did did you?" He growled, taking a few steps closer as Vince backed away, terrified. "Well then you should have kept your promise to me to never leave your corridor!" Vince swallowed.

"But, but Howard said that I was in a bad way from being in there so long!" Vince said, fear and confusion running across his face. Howard looked between the two, unsure who would win the battle.

"You've been in a bad way since you were born! You're lucky I took you in you filthy child!" Bainbridge roared in fury, Vince shied away as he raised his fist and swung it down. The butt of the rifle collided with a cracking sound against Vince's head.

Vince fell to the ground emitting a soft cry of pain, curling into a ball as Bainbridge towered over him.

"No!" Howard yelled, breaking free of his captor's hold and tackling Bainbridge, who knocked his own head on the bed, lying unconscious.

Howard panted from the adrenalin as the doctor ran for help. Dashing over to Vince he brought the thin man out of his curled up form.

"Come on Vince, its okay, lets get out of here yeah?" He said, running a hand swiftly through the dazed Vince's hair as he slowly blinked groggily. With a groan Vince sat up, shaking and nodded at Howard, holding his head where it bled at his temple.

Howard smiled and helped Vince up as they heard shouting and running footsteps. Eternally thankful that the room was on the ground floor, Howard opened the window and climbed through it landing after a short jump. He turned around and caught Vince around the waist as he dropped down, not wishing any harm to come to his ankle.

Once they were both on the ground Howard ran off as fast as he could with Vince riding piggy back, away from the hospital, and towards the zoo.

Howard was panting by the time they arrived at the Zooniverse, his face the unattractive blotchy red that faces go sometimes.

"For someone with malnutrition, you sure aren't easy on a man's back!" Howard complained as he popped his back after setting Vince down on a bench.

"Well you could have taken another taxi." Vince said, distracted by the feeling of the sun on his face. The warming golden light of sunrise spread its soft touch over him, as if welcoming him back to the light.

"Its so warm." Vince murmured happily, Howard forgot his discomfort as he saw the night's trials be washed of Vince's face by the light.

"Well its summer little man, enjoy it while it lasts." He said sagely, knowing there would probably be a very cold and windy storm soon just to throw them off the scent.

"Why are we here Howard?" Vince asked as he looked around.

"I'm just picking up some critical items so we can go on our trip Vince, and my van, don't want to walk all the way do you?" Howard said in his best man of action voice, smiling as he saw Vince shake his head vigorously.

The movement obviously had an adverse effect however, because Vince was soon clutching his skull with a pained expression.

"I'll get you something for that alright? Just sit tight." Howard received a thumbs up for his trouble and he merrily strolled into the small hut to gather some things from his mental itinerary. He would write it up later.

Vince stared into the various cages, exchanging a few pleasantries with the ferrets before a shadow cast over him. He looked up to see a small man in turquoise robes with a turban.

"Who're you?"

"I'm Naboo that's who."

"Alright, I'm Vince." He grinned at the stoic person, who looked quizzically at his head.

"What's happened to you?" Vince was surprised that he sounded concerned.

"Bit of rough and tumble, I'm quite tired now, might have a little sleepy." Vince announced after a yawn, drawing one of his knees up and leaning on it, quite content in the person's shade.

"I don't think you should be sleeping with that." The shaman said uneasily.

"Naboo, what are you doing out of the kiosk?" Interrupted Howard as he came back out of the hut with several large bags.

"Coffee break. You do know you shouldn't leave someone with a concussion out in the sun right? They could fall into the sleep of death?" Naboo spoke to Howard as if he was ignorant.

"Sleep of death!" Vince exclaimed, leaping up before getting dizzy and being caught by Howard.

"Yeah! I knew that." Howard said indignantly. Naboo just glared in a way that would make giraffes feel small and then turned to open a nearby cage. Vince and Howard watched as he called out a large gorilla.

"This is Bollo, he's coming too." Naboo announced shortly.

"What do you mean 'too', _you_ weren't even invited!" Howard spluttered indignantly.

"Yeah but we all want to give Bainbridge his just deserts. And besides Howard, you aren't qualified to take care of someone sick." Naboo reeled off, smirking smugly at Howard's offended face.

"Aw come on Howard it'll be fun! Like a road trip!" Vince added excitedly, and Howard found himself nodding in resignation.

"Fine, but no smoking! This is my van, we're going to do things my way." Howard finished, clapping his hands as Naboo rolled his eyes.

"Bollo carry Vince." Came the deep, gravely voice of the gorilla, Bollo swept Vince off his feet and carried him bridal style. Vince giggled cheerfully at the free ride. Howard didn't know why, but he felt a sudden pang of jealousy, but quickly swept it away.

Soon they had all clambered into Howard's worn out van, Vince sprawled across the seats in the back, Howard took the wheel, and Naboo and Bollo sat discussing shaman stuff.

"Howard, where are we going exactly?" Vince questioned.

"Somewhere, anywhere, where ever he can't find us." Howard replied in a desperate voice.

"We should go to my summer house, he'll never find it, its way up near the mountains." Naboo supplied helpfully, Howard nodded in agreement, and head off in the specified direction.

"Once we're there, I'll contact the shaman council, they'll put him on ice." Naboo concluded to Howard's nodding, Vince bit his lip slightly.

"Here, I'll take a look at your head." Vince leaned towards Naboo as the shaman pulled out Howard's first aid kit. Vince winced slightly at the antiseptic as it stung his cut, but was otherwise well behaved.

Howard only had one down casting thought, how would they be able to keep Vince with them with ought giving him what he liked. Howard could provide him with what he needed easily enough, but he was sure that at some stage Vince would run off in search of sweets and shiny things, and they'd find him in a ditch somewhere.

Maybe he should buy some gummy bears for him when they stopped for the day.

::Hope you had fun! I did! Thanks for the amazing reviews, please let me know what you thought, we're getting to the adventure now, so give me any ideas!

::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.

Dizzy: 4 Sickening Senses.

The van came to stop in an empty parking lot. Howard maneuvered into the back, it was dark and they had finished the day's scheduled driving time.

"Lets cook some food alright, I'm starving." Howard announced as he slumped down next to Vince, who had recently stopped sprawling to give him room.

"Yeah alright, Bollo, put some spaghetti on would ya, I'll do the sauce." Naboo and his familiar got to work with the portable shaman cooking gear.

"Do some vegetables too would you, Vince has malnutrition." Howard added.

Naboo seemed both surprised and upset by this. "We'll do peas." He concluded, pulling out a bag of petit pois from the freezer box he had brought with him.

Howard relaxed at the sound of the meal. It was strange just how relieved he felt that Vince would be eating properly, he made a vow to make sure Vince was always well fed.

"Howard?" Vince questioned, he was fidgeting slightly. "I don't think those bootlaces are right, they're all pale and stiff." Vince said with all seriousness, pointing at the spaghetti Bollo was putting in the boiling water.

"They aren't bootlaces Vince, they're spaghetti, pasta." At Vince's blank stare Howard sighed.

"Just give 'em a try yeah?" Howard pleaded.

"Alright, but none of its even colorful! Apart from those, they're genius." Vince grinned, indicating the peas. Howard smiled.

"Well Vince you can have as many as you want, as long as you promise to eat them all."

"Wow really Howard? I'll eat them I promise." Vince grinned in the dizzy manner he usually did, staring at the peas. Howard could have laughed at his success, but then he saw Naboo staring at him in a demeaning way, so settled for patting Vince on the back.

By the time the food was done, Howard's stomach was rumbling in a complaining manner. Naboo served them all portions, making Vince's smaller by quite a bit.

"What are you doing Naboo, Vince hasn't eaten properly in a while, he needs the extra food." Howard announced, Naboo seemed about to protest when Howard filled Vince's plate.

"Vince you don't have to eat all of it, just stop when you're full." Naboo stated, Vince nodded and tried a mouthful of the spaghetti Bolognese.

"This is weird, it's not sweet at all!" He exclaimed in shock after he'd swallowed, holding the back of his hand to his mouth.

"Do you not like it?" Howard asked worriedly.

"No, its nice, its just...different." Vince concluded, and continued eating. It wasn't long until Vince felt himself becoming full, but when he looked at Howard, he saw that the man had already eaten half of his plate. A sudden feeling of something squeezing his insides took hold of Vince, and he kept eating, as if in an impulse.

Eventually he managed to finish the plate, but he could feel his stomach churning uncomfortably. The feeling persisted until they went to bed. Vince had never slept so painfully, back at Bainbridge's house he had a bed with amazing fabric throws and covers, and the lights were neon and welcoming. Here he was sat up with a scraggly blanket and cold, he squirmed about as the others slept, trying to find a warm position where his stomach would stop moving.

As the morning rose the others slowly clambered into an awakened state, Bollo putting the kettle on swiftly. Vince hadn't slept a wink, and was looking the worst for it, dark shadows appearing under his eyes and looking pale and drawn. He brought his legs up to his chest for comfort, and immediately felt a white hot pain shoot from his ankle.

Everyone was too sleepy to notice Vince flinch painfully, biting his lip and holding back the tears that threatened to spill from both misery and pain.

"Right! Lets get on the road then!" Howard announced happily, patting Vince on the back as he got up. Vince's slight lurch because of it sent his stomach right back to its squirming, he lowered his head onto his knees, everyone seemed to take this as tiredness however, and so went back to whatever they were doing.

Howard started up the car and they trundled off on their way.

As Bollo and Naboo poured over the shaman equivalent of 'Argos', Vince sat biting his lip and breathing shakily. The movement of the truck was both jarring his foot and sending his stomach into somersaults. After a few minutes Vince had the distinct feeling that something was creeping up his throat.

All at once the truck jerked over a lump in the road, Vince wretched, a feeling he'd almost forgotten, but he knew what would come next pretty soon. Uncurling himself he turned to the drivers seat, holding his stomach with one hand and the door in the other.

"Howard! Howard stop the van!" Vince breathed out shallowly.

"Can't stop now little man! We're on a carefully planned mission! Oh yes sir, we-"

"Howard! Stop the van! _Please_!" At the keening sound in Vince's voice Howard pulled over in confusion, all members of the van turned to Vince as he threw the door open and fell out.

"Vince!" Howard exclaimed as he and Naboo jumped out after him, Bollo having had the magazine thrown at him. They leapt out to the sight of Vince on his knees throwing up violently whilst holding his stomach.

"Shit!" Howard said, dashing forwards and grabbing Vince as he swayed dangerously. Once quite sure he was done throwing up Vince leaned back into Howard's arms trembling.

Howard leant Vince backwards so his head rested on Howard's shoulder as he panted. Naboo came over and knelt beside Vince as well, putting his hand to the sweating raven-haired forehead.

"I told you not to give him so much! You've got to start with small amounts of food in these situations! Look what you've done to him!"

"S'not Howard's fault. I was the one who kept eating." Vince croaked miserably, Howard, desperate to remedy the situation, spoke up to comfort him.

"Vince, I'm sorry, you only have to eat what you can, you're doing really well alright?" Vince sought Howard's eyes for comfort, he was beginning to feel better. "Just tell us when you're not feeling well okay." Howard finished, seeing secrets in Vince's eyes.

"My ankle really hurts." Vince admitted quietly, Howard smiled softly down at him.

"Let's get you back in the van then." At Vince's nod Howard picked him up, Naboo keeping a close look on the shiny man.

Howard couldn't help but feel terrible as he wrapped the miserable Vince up in the two scant blankets they had. Naboo carefully removed the silver boots Vince wore and unwrapped the bandages.

Vince's ankle was swollen and crooked, and generally at odds to the rest of his appearance. Vince flinched slightly as Naboo felt the break.

"I've got something that'll help the break heal, but you've got to not put any weight on it at all until then alright?" Vince nodded in a desperate way. Naboo fished some browny orange balm out from a concealed pocket.

"Ugh!" Vince exclaimed as the foul goop was spread over his ankle and foot. Naboo wrapped it up securely in a fresh bandage, also changing the bandage on his forehead.

"Bollo make Vince chocolate milk." Bollo said, pulling out a bottle of '_Yazoo'_ and giving it to Vince, who looked amazingly happy for the treat. Howard scowled at Bollo in disapproval.

"What, chocolate milk has calcium, plus lots of calories." The gorilla said in defense, Vince happily sipped his drink through an electric blue straw.

"Fine, lets get going." Howard said, and at Vince's assuring dizzy grin, he took the driver's seat and they pulled out, heading for the mountains they could see in the distance.

Howard compulsively kept looking back at Vince in the rearview mirror, checking to see if he was still okay. Thankfully the raven-haired person continued to produce his dizzy grin throughout the remainder of the day, enjoying the scenery go past and the occasional wildlife.

The four didn't stop for lunch, Howard's familiar sense of unease had come creeping back, forcing his foot down on the acceleration. The slight inkling at the back of the jazz maverick's mind kept him driving for longer into the night then the day before.

They had just reached the foot of the mountains when Howard pulled over for the night. He would have carried on if it weren't for Naboo's suspicious warning glances for the last couple of hours.

It was about midnight and Bollo had already fallen asleep, Vince was blinking tiredly on the edge of sleep, and Naboo was hungry.

Diner was cooked quickly, Bollo woke up to the sound of dinner and sat grumpily.

"Its getting cold in here, why no heating on?" The gorilla grumbled moodily.

"The heating only works when the van is on, besides, we'll be at Naboo's house soon right?" Howard half pleaded, as if it would make the tiny shaman's house nearer.

"We should make it in a couple of days." Naboo answered to sighs of relief as he piled rice onto the four plates, this time making sure Vince got less, glaring at Howard as if to dare him to disagree.

"It really is cold." Vince moaned slightly as he pulled the blanket around himself. Howard looked at the slightly trembling figure, taking in the painfully thin clothing he was wearing.

"Don't worry Vince, not much longer." Howard promised, he couldn't be sure that Vince wouldn't just bolt if he got fed up with the cold and tiring trip. He glanced down at Vince's un-booted ankle, feeling a sort of relief that Naboo's miracle cure would prevent Vince from even touching the floor, let alone running away.

Howard was shocked by how much he had felt like Bainbridge when he said that. If this trip came down to forcibly keeping Vince here against his rule, what would he do? Would he resort to violence or bribery to keep the shiny creature in his midst? Or would he let Vince go, to be free and happy somewhere? But the later would surely result in Vince's death in his current state.

Howard hoped that he never had to make the decision, and tucked into the buttered rice with gusto.

This time Howard was careful to watch Vince eating, seeing as he steadily begun to take smaller bites of food, pushing the rice around his plate feebly. Vince had just barely made it half way through his plate, it made Howard's stomach churn at the thought of how much he must have over fed him last night.

Once he saw Vince's hand drift and begin to rub his stomach, Howard looked at his friend's face. Vince was looking pale and had his eyes shut, breathing awkwardly. The slight shivers traveling through the thin man's frame twinged Howard's gut.

"Alright little man, you've eaten enough." Vince jerked back to reality as Howard spoke, and held onto his plate slightly when he tried to remove it.

"Its okay, you've done well." Howard assured the panicked man, and gently removed the plate. By Vince's shy smile and look of relief Howard knew he had done right this time. Naboo even gave him a look that didn't hold too much disapproval.

That night Vince snuggled comfortably against Howard, sharing blanket and body heat. Naboo smiled at the peaceful sight of the two of them, but he too shared Howard's uneasy inkling.

This was only reinforced when Bollo leaned forwards and whispered 'I have a bad feeling', Bollo was never wrong, if a bit late sometimes.

They'd just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, and as the passengers of the van fell asleep, none of them saw the two pinpricks of headlights on the distance.

::Sorry for the long wait! But now that I'm back from holidays I'll be writing more. But reviews will endlessly speed up my writing, so please let me know what you think!

::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.

Dizzy: 5 Breakdowns and Breakdowns.

Howard, Vince and Naboo were woken by Bollo's feverish grunting.

"What're you doing?" Naboo demanded, setting his turban straight in annoyance.

"There's a car out there!" The ape exclaimed, the three turned in the direction he was pointing, looking out the window. Sure enough a car was pulling up, the door opening almost tauntingly slowly.

"Howard!" Vince yelped in his high-pitched way. Howard caught the frantic Vince round the waist as he squirmed, trying to get to an escape route like a cornered animal.

"Its Bainbridge!" Naboo exclaimed in shock. Howard managed to firmly hold Vince with one arm around his waist as he looked through the back window again. Moving sinisterly towards the van was indeed his mustached nemesis, carrying his hunting rifle.

"Drive!" Naboo yelled at him in desperation.

Howard scrambled and jumped into the driving seat and floored the acceleration. As the van zoomed forwards Howard was aware of three distinct crashing sounds as the three in the back fell over from the movement.

He was preoqupied from checking their state of health when he saw Bainbridge's car lights turn on in the distance as they speeded up the steep slope to the mountains.

Vince lay where he'd fallen backwards in shock, before seeing Naboo and Bollo rummaging in their Mary Poppin's style shaman bag. The two emerged with the shaman holding a grenade and the gorilla a carpet.

"What's that for?! You're not gonna?" Vince asked in flustered panic, thinking the small man's intentions were to kill Bainbridge.

"Relax!" Naboo shouted, in the way intense situations made you. "Its portable fog, it'll lock onto Bainbridge!" He explained, taking the lock off the grenade and lobbing it out the window.

Sure enough the car behind them was engulfed in thick murky grey. They already had a head start over him, and this brought them a bit more time.

The van lurched around a hairpin corner dangerously, throwing the three back again. Naboo and Bollo managed to get up and tumbled towards the door with the carpet.

"What're you doing?" Vince yelled at them.

"What is that?" Howard joined in, whilst taking another corner at an unhealthy speed, sending Naboo and Bollo into the door and Vince into the seat.

"Magic carpet." Naboo explained as he righted himself. "Me and Bollo will go get the council, then we'll come back for you." With that he wrenched the door open just after another death defying turn.

The sudden onslaught of wind swept destructively thought he van, Vince clutched tightly onto the seat as Naboo and Bollo unfurled the carpet, Howard squinted through the hair blowing in his eyes.

"What about us!" Vince squawked over the screaming wind.

"Just keep going up! We'll be back!" Naboo barked.

"Why can't we all go?!" Howard roared, joining in with desperation.

"Its a two seater!" Bollo growled.

"Well then hurry!" Howard bellowed.

The two threw the rug out the car and jumped expertly on to it, soon out of sight.

Vince scrambled over to the open door to close it, clinging onto a seat for dear life as Howard screeched around the corner.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as a tree appeared before them.

He desperately spun the wheel, the van skidding pathetically. He heard Vince screaming and was aware he was too before the van lurched over the edge of the road.

Vince shuddered out of the daze he had fallen into, the cold snow on his bare arms and soaking through his cloths. As he blinked into focus he could just see the wheels of the van from the slope he was facing.

"Howard!" Vince exclaimed, in realization of the lack of said man. Scrambling and stumbling onto his feet, ignoring Naboo's warning, he dashed to the van. Slipping down the slope he tripped into the van from the still open door.

Looking to where the drivers seat was he saw Howard sprawled uncomfortably on the ground.

"Oh shit." Vince murmured softly at the crumpled figure. He swiftly turned Howard over, careful not to shake him too badly.

Howard had a few cuts and already forming bruises, but the worst injury was a large bloody lump on his head. Vince touched it gingerly; feeling prickles of despairing tears hit his eyes.

"No, its up to me now." He said decisively, blinking away the tears in favor of helping Howard. But how?

"Of course!" Vince exclaimed, grinning dizzily as realization hit him. He pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Plan Pony! I need your help!" He said to the drawing of the pink creation. A few sparkly pink flashes later the Plan Pony stood prancing on the road.

"Thank you Plan Pony! Right." Vince added before turning to Howard. Gripping Howard under the arms he heaved him out of the van and up the slope, made possible by adrenalin, not that Vince knew that.

Once he had managed to get Howard onto the Plan Pony, he remembered Naboo telling them to keep going up the mountain.

Grabbing onto a silver tie that had appeared on the pink horse, Vince led the way up the road, hoping that Naboo and Bollo would be back soon.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Vince stumbled on the wet road and tripped to the floor, he lay there crumpled in the snow as he felt himself begun to shake violently, wracking his thin frame.

Vince frowned at the sudden fatigue that washed over him, feeling the cold pierce his skin he shuddered violently. The movement triggered daggers of pain in his left arm.

Looking shocked in its direction Vince saw the suspiciously red snow. He jumped as he saw the deep gash in his arm that was bleeding steadily. He moved the limb only to flinch as pain shot through his wrist.

He gingerly lifted the limb; it dangled in a useless, unattached way from his arm. Vince whimpered at the site, gingerly laying his arm down, but still receiving bolts of agony from it.

Vince squirmed delicately as he felt pain flare and radiate from other areas in his body as the adrenalin rush wore off.

Stabbing pains in his chest made Vince cry out, feeling things move that weren't supposed to. Through the discomfort he felt something creep up his throat, causing him to fall into a hacking cough that wracked him frame, increasing the pain.

Vince choked as he coughed, opening his eyes he felt tears of fear swim in them from the sight of blood on the snow and the warm, thick and sickening metallic taste in his mouth.

His head throbbed as he lay there, shuddering violently from cold, pain and fear.

Vince had never been hurt like this as he could remember, he had no idea what was wrong with him. No idea that he was coughing up blood because a rib had pierced a lung, that his wrist wouldn't move because it was broken.

And he was petrified by this lack of knowledge. The simple creature's senses were overwhelmed by the pain. Tears leaked down his face as he struggled to breathe.

He didn't know what was wrong, so he didn't know how to fix it.

"Help." Vince mumbled brokenly, even his clothes were soaked and wet. Eventually the terrible realization came that there was no one to help him.

With the misery of someone who only half wants to carry on Vince begun to stumble to his feet, flinching and hissing in pain. Just as he stood up, he fell heavily into the Plan Pony, unable to support himself as his previously fine ankle flared in pain.

Feeling as though actual pins and needles were being driven into him Vince sobbed. But the action only succeeded in jolting his chest into another coughing fit. Feeling the blood try to drown him Vince coughed more frantically, desperate for air, falling into a vicious suffocating cycle of pain blood and coughing.

When he finally managed to gasp for breath, Vince could see the ground spinning through the darkness in his vision. He swayed dizzily before resting his head on the Plan Pony.

As his vision sluggishly cleared he looked over the rest of himself, there were several darker, redder wet patches on his clothes that looked like blood, but whether it was his or Howard's he wasn't sure.

Gradually he was aware of the scenery becoming murky and foggy, he remembered Naboo's clinging fog and heard wheels screech in the distance.

A scarily large part of his mind, sick with misery and fear, wanted nothing more then to wait for his Uncle, wanting to be saved from the pain and cold. The feeling of a child whose parent has been late to pick them up from school. He wanted to go back to the warmth and clothes and sweets, to live his live in blissful ignorance of everything else terrible in the world. Hell, he'd even settle for a game of 'pelt the rabbit in his big white face' over this.

But then he looked over and saw Howard's limp form, and realized that he wouldn't take that over Howard. He was his friend, and gave Vince a feeling better then any clothes when he smiled.

Howard had saved him from that place, and Bainbridge would never help Howard. Howard had done more for Vince in the last few days then Bainbridge had done as long as he'd been there.

Even the lost-child side of his brain chose Howard over his mustached rival in those few seconds.

Faced with the answer came a new problem, in the state he was in, Vince would never be able to keep up with the Plan Pony, and would only slow them down.

Fresh tears of realization stinging his eyes, Vince turned to his pink comrade, becoming frantic as he heard an engine drawing nearer.

"Run Plan Pony!" He yelled as the fog thickened, the beast swiftly turned and galloped off with Howard.

Vince attempted to take a step, only to fall as his leg crumpled underneath him. Fear at being caught crept up on him, and he desperately begun crawling pathetically along the road.

He wasn't sure how long he'd crawled for, but he couldn't see anything through the fog, could barely keep moving through the blood loss haze and dizziness.

All at once Vince felt the ground slope away from where his hand was, sending him sliding and tumbling down a slope. Vince felt the uncontrollable spinning even after he'd stopped moving.

He coughed weakly, feeling the blood trickling out of his mouth as he laid his head on the snow. The uncomfortable position never occurred to him as he surrendered to the darkness creeping into the corners of his mind.

Howard was jolted into consciousness by a regular movement beneath him. After wincing at his head and touching gingerly to feel the dried blood there, he noticed that he was being supported off the ground by a pink thing.

Memories of the crash swarmed him after a few seconds. He sat up swiftly, ignoring the ache in his head and bruises in favor of being more alert.

He was glad he had been wearing his seat belt, unlike-

"Vince!" He yelled out, interrupting his own thoughts. He must have been thrown clear of the van, hurt and scared somewhere, he probably was lost.

After a few moments of imagining ever worse scenarios he came to his senses slightly. If Vince had been near to death, fatally wounded or maimed, then he wouldn't have been able to summon what Howard now recognised as the Plan Pony, let alone get Howard out the van and onto it.

"Um," Howard begun, feeling a bit foolish. "Plan Pony?" At its questioned name the pink beast turned to look at Howard and winked eye lashed eyes at him.

"Uh, can you find Vince? Please?" At the request the horse neighed and galloped off violently, causing Howard to cling on for dear life as it tore off.

After the most terrifying journey of his life the pony neatly reared, sending Howard sliding off its rump to the ground.

As he blinked in annoyance the horse flashed pink violently, and disappeared in the sparkly way it usually did.

Howard grumbled as he stood up, the creature was clearly unstable.

Looking around Howard nearly missed the black standing out from the snow. Squinting at it he saw it was a very distinctly shaped lump in the snow.

"Shit!" He muttered, much the same as Vince had done to him earlier, and scrambled through the snow to get to him.

Brushing the accumulated snow off Vince he saw him laying in an unnatural position, the snow around him stained eerily red.

Turning him over Howard felt just how cold Vince was, and tried to be careful of the bloody patches on his clothes.

Vince was even paler then usual, his hair making almost as sticking a contrast with his skin as it did with the snow.

Howard saw the bloody arm and lifted it gently, only to see Vince's hand dangling limply. Noticing the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth Howard softly felt Vince's ribs, feeling at least one break.

Howard gently held Vince, he must have been terrified, being in pain but without the knowledge to know why.

As he felt snow falling sinisterly he looked around, the wind was picking up too. There was a small cave half disguised by snow.

Howard delicately lifted his thin friend and carried him to the cave. It was just big enough for the two of them to fit in crouching, but it was better then nothing.

Almost as soon as they were inside the wind begun howling ferociously, as though warning him of something.

But Howard was too tired to notice, he held Vince close, grabbing his bleeding arm to put pressure on it, and slowly but surely begun to fall asleep.

::Hope you enjoyed and please tell me what you thought!

::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.

Dizzy: 6 Living Life.

Before Howard realized he had fallen asleep, he jolted awake. The sound of crunching snow just emerging from the howling wind sent his cold sluggish mind into overdrive.

"Vince!" He exclaimed to his comrade. Howard looked down only to see the pale man was nearly blue, a strange deathly pallor that had nothing to do with lack of sun. The small cloudy puffs of air Vince was producing were barely visible.

Desperately he felt for a pulse, only to find a weak, thready one, the beats coming far to slowly for anyone healthy. But then, Vince was hardly healthy.

What with the malnutrition, thinness, blood loss, injuries, strange mentality and general unhealth, Vince wasn't cut out for this sort of situation. It seemed to take all of the usually happy man's energy just to keep breathing.

It took a good while to fully coax Vince into even semi-reality. Pale blue eyes gazed dazedly up at him, giving off an almost halucitive look, a strange mix of hopelessness and hope. Miserable, desperate even.

Howard stared at the limp creature in his arms, overwhelming guilt crashing over him as he saw Vince's eyes failing to recognize him, looking scared and confused as to why he could barely move and was wet and cold.

Swallowing the lump of tangible grief in his throat, Howard spoke, perhaps merely out of familiarity, forgetting the footsteps outside.

"Hey Vince." The words sounded chocked and forced even to him, especially as he saw Vince struggling to grasp the concept of the words. "I know that were in a bit of a sticky situation right now... But I will get you out, and safe, and happy. I promise." He stammered out to the less then lucid creature.

"Ah-ha!" Came a triumphant voice. Howard all but spun around to see the leering face of Dixon Bainbridge staring at him through the cave entrance. Howard's stomach churned with hopelessness, this would be the end, surely.

He held Vince closer to him, but whether out of protectiveness, or the need for comfort, he would never be sure. It was only then that Bainbridge seemed to notice Vince; his eyes did a double take as they saw the state of him.

Howard was shocked by the primal look in the man's eyes. It was a look he imagined scientists would attribute to the primal instinct to look after and protect the next generation. Innate, naturalistic, the sort of previously unknown protective surge that made strangers run into the road to rescue the hapless, without self-concern for a few split seconds in time.

Howard was under no illusions that Bainbridge truly loved Vince, though that might be what the man himself called it. A sort of perverted protectiveness similar to that of overbearing parents, not entirely wanting to, or knowing how, to do the best for their child, but not wanting anyone else to share them.

Howard saw the fury and then felt Vince ripped from his lax hold, practically falling into Bainbridge's arms as if he'd been waiting for them all along. He supposed to a certain extent, which only cemented over time, that what Vince craved above all clothes was the acceptance and love of others.

Gasping like a fish out of water as Bainbridge lifted Vince securely into his arms, Howard struggled to grab at Vince's hand, desperate to not fail him for a final time, not like this.

As Vince felt the somewhat stunted sensation of prickly pressure, unable to identify hot and cold, he felt the world flare into sharper focus. Although this was probably due to the movement of position stimulating blood flow more then anything else.

He turned his head sloppily to the side, a sort of floppy jerking movement that made his eyes sparkle and feel fizzy, like that strange sweet you could get that crackled when you swallowed. As his gaze swam back into semi-focus, he saw Howard's small eyes, begging him to stay.

He didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay with Howard, his new and first friend, other then the slightly sadistic Plan Pony, he just didn't know if he could. He ached and felt too tired to fight off the arms holding him, but he had to try. Howard had kept on trying for him, finding and saving him countless times in the last few days, he wouldn't give in to Bainbridge so easily this time.

It was his life, and for the first time after a long time, Vince remembered he had to fight for it.

"Howard," He chocked out, only the first syllable really being understandable, the rest trailed off. "Wan- stay." He managed to croak out quietly. Howard's eyes seemed to light up in disbelief, so Vince slowly tried to grab on to his hand, barely managing the motion, fingertips just brushing his skin.

It was enough luckily, Howard's disbelief turned to determination. Just then the man holding him jerked him sharply away from Howard into the snow, carrying him up a steep slope even as his mind fought with his body to escape.

Howard saw Vince disappear from sight, and swiftly as he could scrambled clumsily out of the cave and tripping and stumbling up the hill after them.

As he reached the top of the slope and staggered into the middle of the road, he turned around only to face Bainbridge's rifle.

His rival stood supporting Vince with one arm whilst holding the gun with the other, the most predatory grin Howard had ever seen upon his face.

"So Moon, it comes down to this." The smile widened. "I always knew I'd shoot you like a dog." He announced sadistically, before mystically managing to cock the gun.

"No, don't!" Vince yelped, firmly held against the man's side.

"What now! If you don't want to look close your eyes!" Bainbridge yelled at Vince, who flinched, but held his ground, figuratively if not literally.

"No. I don't want to go home. I'm staying with Howard." Vince was surprised with how calm and together he sounded, which was probably thanks to the adrenalin speeding up his heart.

"You'd choose Moon over me?!" Bainbridge bellowed, appalled.

"Yes." Vince announced finally.

"You bitch." He growled furiously, throwing Vince against the car and aiming for Howard, who had been watching, stunned, through the proceedings.

"NO!" Vince screamed as Howard realized Bainbridge's intentions. Feeling both speeded up and slowed down, Vince launched himself towards Howard. Howard begun to duck, and heard the loud bang just before Vince crashed into him, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

After a few seconds without any sudden pain, Howard opened his eyes. Establishing he hadn't been shot, he turned to look at Vince, who was looking at him. They both seemed to reach the absurd assumption that neither of them had been shot simultaneously, and turned as one back to Bainbridge.

The man looked genuinely terrified, staring at something on the ground. Howard and Vince slowly followed his gaze.

There on the road, was a strangely shaped pink head seemingly supported by tentacles, leaking a violent blue fluid from a bullet wound in what appeared to be a head lobe.

"Saboo you slag! You're lucky my organs are in the other lobe today, or I'd have you! This is an outrage!" Came a strange nasal voice.

"Well I'm sorry Tony, but you knew, were supposed to be prepared, that this may have come down to the crunch." Replied a dark, haughty looking man that seemed to be decorated with feathers.

"Oh here we bloody go!" Howard and Vince gaped as the two continued their shouting match, three exasperated, equally strange people looking on.

"Don't mind them, their idiots." The two turned to the familiar accent, seeing Naboo and Bollo gazing down at them.

"What happened to you, we only gone a few hours?" Bollo growled out questioningly.

"Told you you weren't qualified Howard, just look what you've got yourself into." Naboo sighed, before they were all temporarily distracted by Bainbridge having red dust blown onto his face and being taken away on a carpet.

Howard and Vince still lay gaping idiotically, so Naboo decided to take action.

"Come on, let's get you home. We just got our carpet upgraded, it's a family version now, much safer, better steering too." Naboo carried on as he and Bollo unfurled the new carpet.

Vince eventually closed his mouth and slumped against Howard, taking a deep breath and sighing, Howard joined him, both reveling in the fact that, at least for now, it was over.

Naboo and Bollo turned to them to see small, contented smiles playing about their faces.

"Yeah, wait till we get out the alcohol wound wipes, then who'll be smiling." The small shaman said sarcastically to Bollo, who nodded sagely. But neither could help a small smile spreading onto their own faces either.

The four of them all managed to clamber on to the carpet, the wind was steadily increasing in speed, and the temperature was falling.

Vince lay nearly comatose on the carpet as they flew, low to the ground to keep the temperature as warm as possible.

"Stay awake Vince." Howard urged him, shaking him gently. Vince made a small noise, barely reacting. Naboo seemed to sense his dwindling health, looking worried.

"He's got to stay awake, if he sleeps now he'll die." The shaman insisted urgently.

Bollo moved to Vince and lifted him into a sitting position, letting him lean on him. Vince moaned in resistance, but never opened his eyes. Howard stared in concern; he was feeling tired as well, but was able to keep himself awake.

Seeing the slow trickling of blood from Vince's arm he grabbed the limb and held on tight. Vince cried out from the contact, trying to flinch away but being held still by Bollo.

The movement spurred Vince into coughing once more. But the coughs were hacking, choking things, and Howard could only watch as his friend struggled for air over his own blood.

After one particularly violent cough, Vince began hacking up a worrying amount of blood. Howard and Bollo shared a glance as blood fell seemingly without resistance from Vince's mouth.

"We need to hurry Naboo!" Howard yelled frantically as Vince gagged on the liquid, clutching his throat as he failed to breathe.

"Lie him down!" Naboo commanded. Bollo did, tilting Vince's head to the side so the blood flowed out of his mouth scarily fast. "Don't move him, it should stop soon." But Howard could tell by the tone of his voice that neither option was good.

Howard could practically see the little remaining color drain from Vince. Eventually Vince's weak coughs stopped along with the stream of blood. But he didn't move. He and Bollo stared at the almost imperceptible movement of Vince's chest, listened desperately for the shallow shuddering breaths.

"Come on Vince." Howard pleaded, barely registering that the mountains were now far behind them. He tapped Vince's cheek, trying to get some reaction out of him, and panicking when he didn't.

He slapped Vince more sharply, knowing sleep was now death for him. Vince's eyelids fluttered between half open and closed for a few seconds before Howard tapped him again.

Eventually, with Bollo's help, Vince stared loosely and tiredly up at them. Even the blue eyes seemed to be giving up, having gone the palest blue he had ever seen.

"We're nearly there okay, just hang on Vince." Howard pleaded, not caring about the tearful sound to his voice, as he saw Vince's life slowly leaving him.

Vince gazed dizzily up at the sky above him, vaguely registering the inky blue of night becoming day as his eyes rolled back slightly, drifting to the side.

"No!" Howard pleaded desperately as Vince's eyelids shut slowly, a vague, dizzy smile on his face.

Luckily at that moment the carpet landed by the hospital and in a matter of seconds a nearby ambulance crew had spotted them and sprinted off with Vince strapped to a gurney.

Howard, Naboo and Bollo sat in the waiting room hours later. Howard's head had been cleaned and bandaged, as well as his other scrapes.

The jazz maverick had been systematically on the look out for both the doctor from before, and any sign of Vince coming out of surgery. So far he was glad not to see one, and disappointed to not see the other.

The tense atmosphere increased steadily as gradually the waiting room emptied, friends and lovers screaming and crying and laughing and praying as the good and bad news was gradually delivered to them.

Soon it was just the three of them, it was around midday, but none of them could think about food, they could barely speak to each other.

After what seemed like an age a middle-aged doctor came towards them, looking tired. Howard found he couldn't be sympathetic, the doctor hadn't seen how tired Vince had been, he shouldn't complain. Howard knew he was being ridiculous, but was too tired and stressed to care.

"Vince Noir?" He asked, and they nodded desperately.

"We've done all we can, he was in appalling shape though, without the recent injuries there seem to be several long standing ones, but I trust you were dealing with that, you were the ones that told us after all." The three nodded anxiously, they'd had to fill in several forms about themselves and Vince whilst they waited.

"Well, we've fixed the broken bones and punctured lung, and sewn up his cuts. Put him on antibiotics in case of infection, fluids and blood by an IV." The doctor ticked off slowly, and they took in the information.

"With any other patient I'd be confident of a full recovery, however, with the severe malnutrition and his underweight physique, we can't be sure. He should." The doctor added hastily at their distressed faces.

"It will be a slow recovery is all. He will need to go through therapy for his ankle, but not too much, the break seems to have healed shockingly well for some reason. And he will be weak for a while. He'll have to remain in bed for a few weeks without moving so that he can regain his blood and weight. So you'll have to make sure he stays put, after a week I think he can be moved home."

The doctor smiled as the tension slipped from Naboo and Bollo, and slightly from Howard.

"Now he'll be coming round from the anesthesia soon, so as long as you don't stress him I think it would be best if he wakes to familiar faces." He smiled as Naboo and Bollo practically dashed to the indicated room, but held Howard back by the shoulder.

"Now, you put down that Vince is an orphan, but is there anyone that we can contact? Another relative or guardian or something?" The doctor looked sad about Vince's plight, but also resigned.

Howard thought about all he didn't know about Vince's past, and about all that had happened with Bainbridge, including him being taken off on a magic carpet by shaman.

"No, I'm sorry, we're all he's got, but that's just fine for us, and for him too. He's happy." Howard finished with a smile, the doctor smiled back, and for the first time Howard knew for certain that Vince was happy with them, that he had chosen them over Bainbridge, and that was enough for Howard.

Entering Vince's room he saw Naboo and Bollo mixing a pink drink in a corner whilst Vince gazed sleepily at them, smiling.

"Hey little man." Howard said softly, sitting next to the bed and gently running a hand through Vince's hair. Vince sighed softly before looking up at Howard.

"Hey, thanks." He mumbled happily.

"Anytime Vince, anytime." Howard replied, feeling more content then he had in years. "Just hang in there a while, its going to be a long wait till you're back on your feet I'm afraid.

"Don't be too sure." Said Naboo knowingly with a grin, Howard moved back as he and Bollo came forwards with the pink liquid. Naboo injected it into the blood bag, where it camouflaged with the blood.

"You'll sleep a lot but you'll heal real fast, and they'll be expecting the sleep anyway, alright?" The shaman said, making sure Vince understood.

"Yeah, cheers Naboo." Vince slurred as he fell asleep, glad to be out of there as soon as possible.

"What did you give him?"

"Healing potion, he'll be fine soon."

"How long?" Howard asked laughing a bit, hardly believing it.

"Oh about a week?" Naboo answered, grinning hazily.

Sure enough, two weeks later found Vince and Howard standing cleaning out the zebra's.

Fossil had readily accepted Vince into the zoo, and soon Howard found out Vince could talk to animals, making the work fly by.

"I'm glad you're here Vince." Howard said in a sudden moment of gratitude towards the shiny person.

"Yeah, me too Howard." Vince answered simply; they both stared across the Zebra enclosure, shining in the sun.

"And I'm loving these guys, their genius, they don't even need to accessorize." Vince shot Howard his typical dizzy grin, and Howard couldn't help but laugh with him.

Yup, this was his life. And for the first time, he was living it.

The end!

::Whoop! Success! Please let me know what you thought and keep an eye out for the sequel!

::Thank you endlessly for reading, you've been beautiful, like a see-through horse full of sprite!

::Love you all lots! shadowtheo Xx


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